Recitation By Mustafa raad Alazawy

Etymologically speaking, the word qira’a (which literally means reading or reciting) has its roots in the Arabic root qara’a. Therefore a Qur’an-reciter is called a qari. The competent qurra’ have always held a prestigious position in the Islamic society. Since the olden days, Qur’an recitation has been considered as a meritorious act. Hence those people who memorize the Quran, i.e. huffaz and the reciters, i.e. the qurra’ have always been held in high regard in the Muslim society. By the way, it is not necessary that the memorizers of the Qur’an are also experts in the art of reciting Al-Qur’an. The qurra’ learn the art of Quranic reciting from a special teacher who is called a muqri’. Some Muslim countries have institutes (ma’had al-qira’at) for teaching the art of reciting the Qur’anic.

Since a Qari has a special importance in the society so he has certain moral duties also to fulfill by virtue of his position. It has been reported on the authority of Ibne Umar (ra) that Prophet Mohammad (saw) said: “Analogy of Hafiz of the Qur’an is like that of a man who has a camel, if he keeps him tied up with the rope round its neck, the camel stays and when he keeps it free without tying up, the camel runs away, similarly if the Haafiz-e-Qur’an recites the Qur’an day in and day out, the Qur’an stays with him (in his memory) and when he leaves recitation, Qur’an also leaves (his memory) i.e., he forgets it.” (Muslim)